In a photo taken Sept. 17, 2025 in Pembroke, Maine, a moose trapped in an abandoned well is rescued by wardens from the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. (Delaney Gardner via AP)
PEMBROKE, Maine (AP) 鈥 A bull moose that fell into an abandoned well in Maine was pulled to safety during an elaborate five hour rescue.
The operation happened Wednesday after Cole Brown, whose family owned the forested land in northern Maine, spotted a pair of antlers. He heard a noise and initially thought it was turkeys but, upon, closer inspect, realized it was something a lot bigger.
鈥淗e walks over and, through the thick alders and bushes, he saw the antlers, just the antlers peeking out,鈥 said Delaney Gardner, Brown鈥檚 stepsister who videotaped the rescue. “He knew that an animal of the size, he was going to need some back up just in case it was, you know, injured or just stuck there.鈥
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The family alerted the Maine Department of Inland Fisheries & Wildlife. They sent a biologist who sedated the moose and then wardens put straps on the animal. Using an excavator provided by the family, they gingerly lifted the moose out of the 9-foot deep well.
鈥淥nce the sedation wore off, the moose took off running, no worse for wear other than perhaps his bruised ego,鈥 the agency said on its Facebook page.
Gardner said the successful rescue left her with a mix of 鈥渞elief and happiness.鈥
鈥淭his is a majestic giant animal in such a precarious situation,鈥 she said. 鈥淪o to be able to see everyone come together in all these different ways that they needed to was absolutely incredible. And then seeing it work out was just so satisfying and heartwarming.鈥
Gardner said the family didn’t know the well 鈥 which is likely decades old 鈥 was on their 100 acres of land until the moose fell into it. Since then, they have capped the well and are considering their options, including digging it out and utilizing it since it there may a water source nearby.
鈥淔or now it鈥檚 covered and no more animals or people will be falling into it,鈥 she said.
